Do you count calories from fruit?

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Replies

  • maisie_moo
    maisie_moo Posts: 9
    Definitely count them. I had great success years ago with WW but as we all do, slipped into bad habits and all went back on again. I liked the sound of the new WW so gave it a go. SOOOOOO many people are having issues with the new system and are gaining weight. Most fruit and veggies are free but the way points are calculated has changed. It really didn't work for me and i started gaining no matter how i tried using the new points system (some daily, all daily no weekly, all daily some weekly, all daily all weekly! LOL!)
    I've come over to MFP and am eating what I like, when I like and so far so good i've lost what i put on with WW!
  • kellibean13
    kellibean13 Posts: 92 Member
    Potatoes and Yams are not free on WW. Starchy vegetables are assigned a Points value, though the exact number eludes my memory at the moment.
  • young1726
    young1726 Posts: 347 Member
    I keep seeing people say "I'm not going to gain weight by going over my calories on fruit or veggies"... or something along those lines...

    It's not necessarily the overage on fruits and veggies that are going to make you gain or maybe not gain, but not lose either. If you're over, you're over. It could be the extra glass of milk you had for breakfast, it could be the extra tbsp of peanut butter you had for lunch or it could be the extra 3 oz of steak you had at dinner that all total together to make you go over...not just the extra apple you had at snack or the extra cup of brocolli you ate at dinner.

    A calorie is a calorie no matter how healthy it is. If you want to lose the weight like this site has set out for you, then follow the plan.
  • bellamia88
    bellamia88 Posts: 149 Member
    For the record I am NOT on weight watchers never have and never will otherwise I wouldn't be using this site. I never stated anywhere that I am anyways just want to clarify. I only brought it up because a friend at my gym told me about ww and fruit points and just wanted to know if anyone else heard it too. As for sugar if you look under the nutrients section in your daily intake it will tell you right there everything you are taking in. Just going to better clarify cause I guess it wasn't clear to some people.
  • tiffnday
    tiffnday Posts: 27 Member
    They count. It's not only calories but a lot of natural suger so sorry they do count.
  • eveunderground
    eveunderground Posts: 236 Member
    I'm not on WW, and I do count calories in fruits. I do not agree that a calorie is a calorie when it comes to weight loss. The calories from non-starchy whole foods are unlikely to lead to weight gain while the calories from heavily processed starchy/sugary foods ARE likely to lead to weight gain (or slow down your weight loss). That doesn't mean you shouldn't count the calories from the fruits/veg....rather you should focus on increasing the amount of calories that come from those whole foods and decreasing the amount of calories you intake from processed foods.
  • daddyratty
    daddyratty Posts: 305 Member
    Definitely count them (as most have said).

    I find that fruit is pretty inexpensive as far as calories go. For the number of calories, it seems to fill me up pretty quickly. Yesterday, for example, by lunch I'd eaten half a grapefruit, a banana, and an apple, and this was in addition to my meals. I still had over 1100 calories left (out of my 2050) for the day.

    I did WW a couple years ago, and a point is ~60 calories (but not exactly). As was also said above, there are other nutrient values figured into that.
  • MaggieMay131
    MaggieMay131 Posts: 211 Member
    Yes, you should count calories from fruit!!

    I have done Weight Watchers (recently) and they have calculated the points you have per day. They strongly reiterate in every meeting that fruits are not "FREE," they are just zero PointsPlus. You still have to count your servings/portions. Trying to count calories AND do Weight Watchers will mess with you. Do one or the other, in my opinion.

    In response to potatoes and yams being free... negative. "Starchy" vegetables are NOT zero PointsPlus.

    I think a lot of people assume things about WW that aren't true! If you haven't gone through the program or sat through a meeting, don't try to follow it, because you might not be successful (case in point-- thinking fruits are "free").

    Just my 2 cents!!~
  • projectperfectme
    projectperfectme Posts: 1
    i heard that most fruits and veggies count as ''negative calories'' because it takes more to digest them than the calories they're worth.So I've always counted them as a free food and that's always worked for me
  • cwsreddy
    cwsreddy Posts: 998 Member
    Count the calories, ignore the sugar as long you're eating it in fruit form.

    If you're drinking the juice, then the sugar counts.
  • cwsreddy
    cwsreddy Posts: 998 Member
    i heard that most fruits and veggies count as ''negative calories'' because it takes more to digest them than the calories they're worth.So I've always counted them as a free food and that's always worked for me

    They're not negative calories sadly - that's a myth, but typically the net caloric gain from fruits and veggies is pretty small - although this does depend on what kind and how much, as with anything.
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  • PinkyFett
    PinkyFett Posts: 842 Member
    I'm not on WW, I count everything I eat. Everything.
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    Count everything that you consume, food or drink.
  • AwesomeGuy37
    AwesomeGuy37 Posts: 436 Member
    i heard that most fruits and veggies count as ''negative calories'' because it takes more to digest them than the calories they're worth.So I've always counted them as a free food and that's always worked for me

    Anecdotal. Why are we grave digging? This is a 2011 post.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    i heard that most fruits and veggies count as ''negative calories'' because it takes more to digest them than the calories they're worth.So I've always counted them as a free food and that's always worked for me

    They are not negative calories -- even the extremely low-cal ones like celery still have a positive number of calories after you account for digestion. Some fruits and veggies are less low-cal than others -- for example, it could be quite easy to get a serious amount of calories eating bananas.

    For some people it might work to set calories a little bit lower and then not track their fruits and veggies. For other people that would be a bad idea because it might lead to gorging on higher-cal choices.
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  • MaiLinna
    MaiLinna Posts: 580 Member
    My advice is to count the calories, but subtract the sugars because they are natural and not added.
    Count the calories, ignore the sugar as long you're eating it in fruit form.

    If you're drinking the juice, then the sugar counts.

    why doesn't the sugar in fruit count? It's still sugar/carbs

    Because unless you have The Beetus, the sugar in fruits won't harm you. Besides, if you eat a ton of fruit every day that sugar will add up too quickly, and you should never feel bad about eating fruits and veggies.
  • cwsreddy
    cwsreddy Posts: 998 Member
    Count the calories, ignore the sugar as long you're eating it in fruit form.

    If you're drinking the juice, then the sugar counts.

    why doesn't the sugar in fruit count? It's still sugar/carbs

    sugar in fruit juice spikes your insulin like soda while sugar in whole fruit does not because it's attached to pectin/fiber so it burns more slowly. Whole fruit sugar is not an issue.
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    count the calories - there is a link somewhere on here for people who have or want to follow WW while counting calories - not sure which forum thread it is in so you will have to search them sorry.
  • krystina_letitia9
    krystina_letitia9 Posts: 697 Member
    ...and this thread is almost 3 years old, friends.
  • Sovi_
    Sovi_ Posts: 575 Member
    Only when in the form of wine.
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  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    ...and this thread is almost 3 years old, friends.

    I guess this is for the person who dug this thread up....

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/822197-how-to-track-weight-watchers-points-on-mfp
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  • lisawinning4losing
    lisawinning4losing Posts: 726 Member
    Yes. If you're on the Weight Watchers system then you don't have to count the calories from vegetables except starchy vegetables like potatoes, peas, corn, etc. And of course you have to count any butter or dressing you add. But you don't have to count vegetables, they're "free". (If you're using that system.) But you always count calories from fruit because they're pretty high in sugar, albeit natural sugar.
  • xDinMammax
    xDinMammax Posts: 11
    I used to throw a couple different types of fruits together to make smoothies - that could easily be 300-400 calories from the fruits alone!

    This ^
  • CodeMonkey78
    CodeMonkey78 Posts: 320 Member
    If you ingest it, count it.

    Personally, I do not log tea and/or coffee (because I drink them unsweetened or black), but I do log water for as an accountability measure to ensure that I drink enough per day.
  • _MG_
    _MG_ Posts: 453 Member
    Yes.
  • cwsreddy
    cwsreddy Posts: 998 Member
    My advice is to count the calories, but subtract the sugars because they are natural and not added.
    Count the calories, ignore the sugar as long you're eating it in fruit form.

    If you're drinking the juice, then the sugar counts.

    why doesn't the sugar in fruit count? It's still sugar/carbs

    Because unless you have The Beetus, the sugar in fruits won't harm you. Besides, if you eat a ton of fruit every day that sugar will add up too quickly, and you should never feel bad about eating fruits and veggies.

    It won't harm you, but it still contains calories that you absorb. You can't just ignore that IMO.

    we're not talking about the calories. I said you SHOULD count the calories, and ignore the affect on your sugar intake. Not sure what you're not getting.
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